Editor’s Note

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COVID-19 pandemic has bought the whole world to a halt as hundreds of countries have now implemented travel restrictions and border shutdowns. While most of these restrictions may be temporary, they have the potential to have a long-term impact on the mobility of people between countries and impact businesses drastically for the predictable future. 

In this issue of HR Legal & Compliance Excellence, we bring you a Themed Edition on COVID-19: Immigration and Labor Trends, featuring a few handpicked articles on the topic and we hope these will help you understand the current policies and trends better. 

On April 22, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation suspending the entry of any individual seeking to enter the United States as an immigrant. The proclamation went into effect at 11:59 pm (ET) on April 23, 2020, and will last for at least 60 days. This month’s cover article, COVID-19 Pandemic: Summary Of Presidential Proclamation Suspending Entry Of Immigrants by Alka Bahal, helps us understand who is exempt, who is not from the proclamation.  

Recently, the White House issued a Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak. Richard M. Green’s article, COVID-19 Immigrant Entry Ban will explain the changes brought to the US immigration system by the Executive Order (EO).

Recently, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to address the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The final bill contains numerous provisions affecting businesses and individuals throughout the U.S. Business leaders and HR teams will need to review the bill and put the appropriate measures in place to comply in the months ahead as the law took effect for most covered employers on April 1, 2020, and remains through December 31, 2020.  Laurie Savage’s article Navigating The Families First Coronavirus Response Act shares key details on the overview of the act to help employers navigate the COVID-19 crisis.

Given the number of states that have already ordered the closure of non-essential businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, employers fortunate to remain operational are likely dealing with the myriad challenges of a remote workforce.  If an employee is on-call or waiting time at home is “hours worked,” will he be compensated for such time? Read Jeffrey H. Ruzal and Carly Baratt’s article Work From Home Policies During COVID-19 to know more about this. 

This is not all! This month’s issue of HR Legal & Compliance Excellence e-Publication brings to you the best practices and tools to keep yourself protected and compliant.

Stay safe.